Tourism businesses could boost their bookings from socially conscious travellers this year.
Our Insight team have identified Give and break as one of seven new travel trends to make an impact in 2026.
The trend appears in our report, Trends for 2026: The transformation economy.
According to the report, many visitors want to leave destinations better than when they found them.
More visitors than ever (53% says Booking.com) are aware of the impact of tourism on local communities and want to be more responsible and intentional in their travel choices.
In that same survey, 73% of visitors want their spending to benefit locals.
However, they need to be informed on how they can support communities through their trip choices.
This desire for sustainable travel options is also being seen in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in personalised trip planning.
Further research from Booking.com found that 71% of travellers want AI to improve their visitor experience by making recommendations that avoid overcrowded destinations or peak times, or provide experiences that positively impact local communities (60%).
If more tourism businesses and organisations shout about their community-driven work, it could be captured at the trip planning stage and translate into bookings while also normalising responsible travel.
Learn ways to improve your sustainabilityMercat Tours is an award-winning, independent family business and the first B Corp attraction in the UK.
Delivering expert storytelling experiences in Edinburgh, it recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Fair Work, community impact and family values are at the core of Mercat Tours and promoted prominently on its website, including its ground-breaking project 'Our Stories, Your City’.
Launched in 2022, the project reconnects the vulnerable communities of Edinburgh with their city through storytelling, paid for by visitors’ donations and supporting Living Wage jobs, demonstrating tourism as a force for good.
The project has raised £10,500 in donations since its launch, which supports local schools in areas of multiple deprivation, the Grassmarket Community Project (homeless and vulnerable persons charity) and The Welcoming (Edinburgh refugee support).
Find out more about Our Stories, Your City
We already know, through our partnership with Tourism Cares, that there are many tourism businesses in Scotland which offer meaningful travel experiences. Looking across published research, it’s clear potential visitors want to feel supported in making sustainable choices by the destination they are visiting.
The key is for tourism businesses to actively communicate and highlight how their experiences benefit their local areas, making a ‘Give and break’ in Scotland an unmissable experience.